Not Yet
by Jiara Anatalis
Summary: A Shadowlands encounter in the past sheds some light on events of the future. Oneshot for a KFM challenge.


"More tea?" I asked, offering the pot. She nodded silently and held out the small wooden cup. I smiled slightly as I poured, admiring the Wroshyr-wood mug. It was my best of the set. I was pretty proud of it.

"Very good," she said softly after a slow sip. "You make this from plants in your garden?"

"Maybe you don't want to know what's in that," I half-joked. Her expression didn't change. "Hmmph. Tough crowd today."

"So, Master Bin…"

"Ut-ut!" I snapped, wagging my finger at her.

"Excuse me…_Mister_ Bindo," she continued, setting the cup gently on the table.

"Jolee. Just Jolee."

"Are you going to tell me what you're doing down here?"

No use beating around the Wroshyrs with this one. She was all business. "Could ask the same of you two," I said with a slight nod towards the door. I glanced through the window, catching a glimpse of the bald head and tattoos. "He can come in, yanno. No need to stand guard. The predators know better than to come near my hut."

"Thanks for the help with those katarns," she said warmly. It sounded genuine. "Your saber skills are impressive."

"Trying to make this old man feel better? You two had them under control, don't know why I bothered to jump in," I said with a chuckle. "Never thought I'd see a couple of Knights down here."

"And you still haven't." Her words were cold, flat…like her porcelain skin. "We left the Order, just like you." She reached out for the mug.

"Ah, good, then you aren't here to talk me into going back!"

"I think you know why we are here," she intoned as she took another sip.

"I might," I said. I felt a prickling sensation crawl across my scalp. I easily pushed back her attempted look into my mind. I added an extra surge of Force to the rebuff, slamming the door and slapping her wrist for even trying such a thing on me, fool girl. Her face remained calm; a delicate smile curling at the corners of her lips the only emotion she allowed to show.

"I doubt you have been here for 15 years and not run into it. I can feel its presence now. Its power pulses in this forest."

"Of course I've felt it. And I have enough sense to stay away," I snorted.

"Wise man," she nodded. "I believe that may have saved your life." Her voice was smooth, detached. And deadly serious.

"_Revan, hurry up!"_

At the sound of the voice calling impatiently through the door, she scowled, her eyes going even harder, colder. Deliberately she took a long, slow draw of tea and settled deeper into the chair.

"Where'd you get that hairless Wookiee anyways?" I asked. She bolted forward, a choke and series of coughs muffled by the mug. Then she laughed; real laughter, sweet and musical, between attempts to catch her breath. Her eyes twinkled with life and she looked young and innocent…for a moment.

"I must remember that one," she said, a mischievous smile creeping across her face as she turned to look behind her. "Malak will love it." Her grin was wicked. "Hairless Wookiee," she repeated with a delighted giggle before returning to her tea.

"So what do you plan to find out here?" I asked bluntly, now that I had gotten a smile out of her. "More importantly, what do you plan to do with what you find?"

She studied me a bit, then leaned back in the chair and adjusted her robes. "There's a war out there, Jolee." She spoke the words as all her others. Calm, plain, smooth and emotionless.

"Ha!" I yelled back. "Do tell…a war you say?" I mocked. "Well, imagine that. Not like that has ever happened before!" War, again? Did they learn _nothing_ in these past three and a half decades?

"The Mandalorians are giving the Republic a royal pounding," she explained. "Manpower, resources and time are all running out." She paused. "We could use your help," she added in a carefully phrased invitation. There was more to it, I could tell.

"No thanks. I've had my fill of war. I was like you, thought fighting was the most important thing I could do," I said, remembering, then realizing. "Went against the Council's orders, didn't you?"

She nodded and smiled. "The Council refused to help. They said there was a greater threat out there."

"Let me guess, they didn't say what it was, hmm?"

"Of course not. Just an excuse, as far as I can tell. We haven't found anything." She looked up at me. "Yet," she added, a slight quirk in her brow.

"Haven't found it, or created it?" I asked. "That why you two looking for that thing out there?"

"Had a feeling you would understand. With a man like you on our side…"

"Which side would that be, missy?" My voice was angrier than I intended, but it didn't matter. There was something about her, something I couldn't quite put my finger on. I concentrated on the Force that whipped around her; it doubled in on itself and arched away, through the door and out to the boy that accompanied her. He too was centered in a hurricane of power that looped back to her in a continuous flow. The way it coiled and twisted, like…

"Two snakes, intertwined," she finished out loud. "And yes, this is a very nice cup," she smiled again and even winked. "Perfect for this tach-gland tea."

I couldn't hide my surprise, and didn't even try. I searched and didn't feel her presence within me even knowing she was there…apparently the whole time. She was a sly one, allowing me to believe I had guarded against her. Instantly I fell back to an old technique my master taught me years before. My mind became a jumbled forest of stories, twisted and knotted, as dark and dense as the Shadowlands, my true thoughts scattered and hidden in the parables and anecdotes.

"Hmm," she said into the tea. "Impressive."

"I won't join you, Revan, but I won't fight you. I am not getting mixed up in the middle of this…of you two," I indicated the connection between them. "I'm done with swirling Force and destiny. If the Council wants to sit this one out, who am I but a fool to rush in?"

"Are you sure you left the Order? You follow their tenets better than they do themselves," she smirked.

"Don't insult me…or try to trick me into joining you," I warned sternly. "The Council might be overly cautious, but they aren't completely stupid. There is a bigger picture here."

"You even sound like them," she continued as she placed the cup on the table and stared at it. "You really did do a good job on that one. I hope I make something I can be proud of too."

"I couldn't tell how it would turn out, until it was finished, but I envisioned it. Just like what you're crafting…no one can truly see it until it is completed. Yes, there is quite the big picture here, and only the one painting it knows what it looks like before the final brushstroke. But I can tell already you are one hell of an artist, Revan."

"Then you must tell me what you think of my masterpiece," she said as she stood. She slid a small device towards me across the table. "That will catch you up on all you have missed," she said pointing to the datapad. "It should still pick up the daily transmissions and updates, even down here."

I picked up the datapad and activated the display. "This reminds me of the time I found a secret holocron the Masters stashed in the library. When they found out it had been taken, oh there was an uproar. See, Vrook and I…"

"Good luck, Jolee Bindo," she said cutting me off. I looked up to see her already at the door. She hesitated.

"Something on your mind?"

"Would you take advice from me?"

"Depends on what it is."

"Stay hidden. Stay lost. It's not worth it."

"Yet," I said. "Not yet."


End file.
